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2 Onward to Eastern Oregon By the mid-1850s as the gold became harder to find in California, some Chinese miners remained in California or returned to China while others moved into unchartered territories in the nearby regions. There was an advantage in going to new areas because they might have the opportunity to mine unhindered by animosity and anti-Chinese mining regulations. The Chinese who traveled to new boomtowns either followed EuroAmerican miners or knew enough about finding gold to strike out on their own. Some, like those who went to Idaho, were guided to placer sites by friendly Native Americans; many more were killed by hostile Native American bands. Two neighboring territories, Oregon and Nevada, offered new beginnings. At first the Chinese migrated to southern Oregon but when hostility forced them to leave, some moved to the isolated area of the rugged Blue Mountains of Grant County in eastern Oregon. There Chinese miners and merchants dominated placer mining in the region and carved out unusual niches for themselves. An examination of the limited information that has been available provided insights into the dynamics of their experiences there. From the outset the Chinese encountered difficulties in living and working in Oregon. As they tried to mine in Oregon the Chinese miners had to cope with EuroAmerican racism and Native American attacks. Oregon was organized as a territory in 1848 and achieved statehood on February 14, 1859. Beginning in 1851, Oregon saw the influx of miners of many nationalities. The announcement of the discovery of new placer sites in the Rich Gulch of the Rogue River valley in southern Oregon attracted miners to the area. By 1852 Jackson County and then Josephine County were established with a growing Chinese presence.1 The main town in Jackson County was Jacksonville and its political leaders and miners dominated territorial and state politics until around the 1870s. In 1860 Jackson County’s population was 84 percent to 95 percent EuroAmerican miners who wanted to keep foreigners, especially Chinese, out. Like California and Nevada, they wrote their own regulations i-xxxiv_1-246_Chun.indd 46 6/24/11 8:35 AM to that effect. The EuroAmerican miners took a strong anti-Chinese stance and influenced legislation.2 Many of Oregon’s political leaders brought their prejudice from California and Nevada. Anti-Chinese agitators from California influenced anti-Chinese activities locally and in politics. For example, Burnette A. Haskell from California continued his anti-Chinese campaigning in Oregon, stating that he preferred to be peaceful but encouraged violence if it was necessary.3 By 1857 EuroAmerican miners adopted some of the same or similar discriminatory laws as California and Nevada regarding Chinese miners. Hostile Native Americans and the new terrain delayed the establishment of towns until the mid-1850s and early 1860s for all miners. The Chinese encountered hostile Native Americans early in their migration to Oregon. In 1855 the Oriental (Tung-ngai san-luk), a bilingual weekly San Francisco newspaper, reported that the Rogue River Native Americans killed a large party of Chinese miners.4 Word of the attack spread among Chinese miners so that many only traveled with a EuroAmerican guide or protector. Despite these challenges, some Chinese persevered in their quest for new mining opportunities. Upon arriving in the small town of Portland in 1861, Ah Ning wrote, “The country here is new found; it is wild, mostly still trees . . . the people have just come.”5 This could have described other parts of Oregon just as well. Legal discrimination toward the Chinese was formalized early. In 1854 territorial legislators offered proposals against African Americans and Chinese, including one to prohibit them from entering or living in the state—but this bill died in committee.6 The justification derived from eighteenth-century European pseudoscientific theories about racial differences, with peoples of color being inferior and subordinate, and the popularity of social Darwinism ’s “survival of the fittest.”7 The Chinese never accepted this notion of subordination and for centuries had given China the name of the “Middle” or “Central” Kingdom because of China’s cultural, political, and economic influence over her Asian neighbors. As one of the oldest civilizations in the world with achievements in many fields, the designation of “inferior” was never a part of the Chinese mentality about themselves. Landholding, suffrage, and taxation were the other areas of discrimination used against the Chinese. EuroAmerican miners in southern Oregon quickly influenced the drafting of the Oregon constitution, ratified in 1857, to deny land...

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